What we do

Y-Press typically focuses its efforts on local or regional stories but also investigates and reports on national or international topics that are important to young people.

Locally, the news bureau has reported on…

Recovering addicts
Changing culture of Latino youth
Trials of kids in foster care
Pregnant teen’s struggles in adulthood
College tuition challenges for students
Foreign-born students in bilingual life
How volunteers benefit communities
The 30th anniversary of the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon and youth involvement

The news bureau has also reported on universal issues …

Changing face of Hong Kong
Death penalty’s effectiveness as a deterrent
Reaction to No Child Left Behind mandate
Israeli teenagers talking about conscription
Teens’ attitudes toward the Iraq War
Pros and cons of stem cell research
Hmong girls fighting for their fathers’ citizenship
Youth fighting AIDS in Africa
Schools raising tsunami funds
Misconceptions Americans have about Africa
Reality behind the “Hotel Rwanda” story

Nationally and internationally, the news bureau has reported from…

Presidential coverage (2008). What Kids Can Do, a national nonprofit that supports youth voice and action, recruited Y-Press journalists for its feature, Youth on the Trail. The partnership created a dedicated "beat" for 2008, which resulted in monthly analyses of youth political involvement and reports from the Democratic and Republican conventions.

Benin, West Africa (2006). In late October, six Y-Press members traveled to Benin to examine the lives of youth in a developing democracy and the challenges they face.
Political conventions (1992, 1996, 2004). Eleven Y-Press members joined with two youth-media organizations to cover the Democratic convention in Boston and the Republican convention in New York City. Teams focused on issues of concern to youth, such as education policy and the political activism of youth in general.
U.S./Canada (2002). Six Y-Press members traveled to Lincoln, Neb., Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., and Vancouver, British Columbia, to learn about refugee youths, their experiences and the challenges they have faced adapting to life in their new homes. The cities were selected for their demographic differences: size, government support, local refugee-serving organizations and resettled populations.
Brazil (2001). Seven Y-Press members traveled to Salvador, on the country’s northeast coast. They covered the treatment of kids living and working on the streets and the disparity between the rich and poor in the 12-year-old democracy.
Hong Kong (2000). Six Y-Press members traveled to Hong Kong to report on the lives of young people three years after the territory’s hand-over to China after 99 years of British rule.
Russia (1999). A five-member team traveled to Moscow to report on political and economic changes in the new democracy and their ultimate effect on the country’s young people.
Puerto Rico (1998). Seven Y-Press members traveled to the island to talk with youth about politics, specifically its commonwealth status and ties to the United States.
Northern Ireland (1997). A six-member team reported on the lives of children in a land without peace from Belfast, Londonderry and Crossmaglen.
Bangladesh (1996). Y-Press joined UNICEF in Dhaka to report on child labor.
Cuba (1996). Eight Y-Press members reported on the lives of the island’s children.
Kuwait City (1991). The summer after the Persian Gulf War, a four-member reporting team interviewed young people on the war’s effect on their lives. Late in 1999, Y-Press re-interviewed two Kuwaitis who attended Indiana University about their changing attitudes.